


26th August, 1996

by Flamyoi



Series: Traveling Around and other stories [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 1990s, F/F, Kneazles (Harry Potter), Love at First Sight, Mutual Pining, Paris (City)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 13:34:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30140319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flamyoi/pseuds/Flamyoi
Summary: Eliana 'Elia' Charles had no time to spare for dating. Well, until a dull day of July 1996, when a girl with golden hair came into her home and shattered everything she believed in about love, anyway.
Relationships: Luna Lovegood/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Traveling Around and other stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2218359
Kudos: 1





	26th August, 1996

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read Traveling Around yet, all you have to know is that Elia is a teenage girl living with her mother and grandmother in the Black Cat Inn, in Paris' magical community, Canopy Alley.  
> Enjoy!

Eliana "Elia" Louise Charles - who no one dared to call that except her mother - was seventeen years old and didn't believe in love at first sight, thank you very much. Matter of factly, she knew that love was a Thing, yet she didn't think it could apply to her. How could one fall in love with just a glance, anyway?  
Her logical side also forbade her to accept the happy-ever-after, and no one could blame her for that since her family model was quite unusual.   
Indeed, in the Charles' household, two important things hadn't changed in decades: the women ruled the Black Cat Inn, and the men never stayed for long, whether they liked it or not.  
Jean, Elia's grandfather on her mother side, had died in the war in the first months of the year 1945, with his non-magical brothers in arms, when his only child wasn't even born. Faithful to her deceased husband and unwilling to endure any man's paternalism, Marthe had raised her daughter alone and never married again. Knowing that Marthe herself had been an illegitimate child and taken in by a cousin until her teenage mother was old enough to take care of her, it wasn't surprising in the slightest that she hadn't deemed a paternal figure a requirement.  
As for Elia's father, Dan - who no one called Daniel except Celeste - he had a very peculiar relationship to his daughter's mother. They had met at the inn in their early thirties, fallen in love and brought a child to the world in the span of a year and a half - still, Elia refused to believe that it had been love at first sight.  
Dan, the Mexican traveller, had stayed for a few years before the road called him back. Child Elia had wept and thrown tantrums, teenage Elia had understood and eventually, forgiven.  
Strong and independent women thus ruled the Black Cat Inn, leaving close to no space at all for men and love stories of any kind.  
Thus at seventeen, Elia couldn't grasp why the hell she would need a man for. She loved her father dearly, but she also knew he wasn't reliable.   
Hopefully, Celeste wasn't trying to play matchmaker with Elia as a lot of her friends' mothers did. She had no time to spare for dating, anyway.  
Until a blazing and otherwise dull day of July 1996, when a teenager with golden hair came into the inn and shattered everything she believed in.   
Behind the check-in desk, Elia straightened and tucked a strand of her long dark hair behind her ear, resisting the urge to curl it around her finger under the newcomer's unblinking gaze.  
Damn, she was pretty. She turned her gaze away from Elia to look around the room, her powder blue summer dress fluttering around her lithe body with each graceful step. Elia barely registered the man stopping in front of her, entranced as she was by the radiant figure brightening the living-room. She finally managed to tear her eyes away from her. The man had long and unruly pale blond hair and a short-sleeved collared shirt. Elia instantly recognised the connection between him and the teenager, an insight he confirmed minutes later, asking for a double bedroom. She learnt her name after asking her father for the deposit.   
Luna.   
Luna Luna Luna.  
She came closer, and Elia noticed her rather peculiar earings and her eyes the bluest of blue. For the first time in her life, she felt self-conscious under someone else's gaze.  
Xenophilius Lovegood handed her the gold, breaking the silent moment between them.  
"Thank you, sir. Let me show you your room."  
They went quietly to the second floor, where she demonstrated the security system, and let them to their own devices.  
When she sat back at her desk, she realised her thoughts were still fixated on Luna. She possessed something Elia had never seen on a person her age. Was it honesty, naiveté, or both? Or was it more complicated? Behind her pure appearance, her intense gaze told another story, one which wasn't as light. From all the years spent through contact with the clients, Elia could tell the difference.   
Though Luna didn't appear again that day, Elia kept her airy voice and blue eyes not far from her mind.  
[...]  
The next day, when Elia noticed that Luna was lounging in the living room without her father, she briefly thought about approaching her but then she decided against it. They didn't know each other after all, and Elia had too many butterflies in her stomach to come up with an exciting topic to discuss. She spent the afternoon stuck behind the check-in desk, eyeing Luna and brooding over her undisclosed desires.  
[...]  
Hopefully, she was luckier (and braver) the day after. Louis, her ten-year-old Bombay cat, woke her up earlier than she had previously intended and followed her to work. As he wasn't typically the clingy sort, unlike many of his breed, she couldn't help but be grateful for the display of affection, even though she hadn't slept near enough.  
The pair found Luna in the living room, focused on a heavy book precariously perched on her knees. She raised her head and greeted them with a pleased smile.  
Elia answered as warmly as she could muster, though it was tinged with a hint of disbelief at the depth of her newborn feelings, and came to sit beside Luna when she motioned toward the empty space beside her on the couch. Elia handed her the suddenly purring cat - the damned traitor - and Luna started to pet his dark, glossy fur with evident pleasure.   
Although Elia had worked at the Black Cat Inn for the best part of three years, she had never ever felt that way toward a client; and that was a disturbing observation for her to make.  
[...]  
It goes without saying that Elia wasn't pleased the next day when Xenophilius Lovegood asked for the bill. Despite her sudden anguish, she was good at her job, and she forced herself to plaster a smile on her face. In her peripheral vision, Luna was definitely not smiling, which didn't help raise Elia's mood.  
Elia had spent literal years seeing people leave. One couldn't hold them back forever, after all. Still, it wasn't any easier to bear Luna's pending departure that day. Through clenched teeth, she thanked them for their stay and wished them a good summer, Luna not meeting her gaze anymore.  
That night, she swore to herself she wouldn't fall in love ever again, but when she finally fell asleep, she dreamt of bright blue eyes and soft blond hair.  
[...]  
A month later, August was reaching its end, and Elia wasn't any closer to forget Luna. Even Céleste had noticed how her otherwise focused daughter would be distracted at times. Of course, Elia had instinctively denied, busy as she was to bury everything under her duty. (She still didn't sleep well either, and dark circles had appeared under her eyes, but Céleste had been sensible enough not to mention that to her face.)  
On the 26th of August 1996 - a date Elia would soon know by heart - Luna appeared on her doorstep. Bored out of her mind and sulky since morning, Elia had been asked by an annoyed Céleste to sweep the front window. And then Luna was here, beaming in a pale lilac t-shirt and jeans shorts, her hair pinned on the top of her head with something looking suspiciously like paintbrushes.  
Elia's smile reached her ears as she dismissed the broom and turned toward the newcomer, mindless of her own threadbare t-shirt.  
"Good afternoon," Luna greeted her, her blue eyes shining as if it was perfectly normal for her to be standing in front of the inn.  
"Hi, Luna," Elia answered after a beat. "What are you doing here?" She couldn't help but ask.   
"We've been to Spain with my father," Luna supplied helpfully. "We've looked for Billywigs, but the weather isn't warm enough for them there."  
Elia didn't know what Billywigs were, but if that meant spending time with Luna, she could really care to find out. She didn't stop to ask where her father was and decided to be forward instead.  
"Care to come for a drink at mine and tell me about that?"   
Luna tilted her head and then nodded.  
"I'd like to."  
"Great!"  
From her seat behind the desk, Céleste raised a single eyebrow at her daughter and her friend sudden appearance.  
"I'm taking a break!" Elia only told her before dragging Luna along to the courtyard at the back of the building. There, Elia hastily summoned a bottle of jasmine iced tea her grandmother had made the night before, and as soon as they were both sitting with a cup each, she began showering Luna with questions.  
"What are Billywigs?"   
"They're blue, magical creatures, quite similar in shape to hummingbirds. They live mostly in Australia, but we heard a rumour about some of them having moved to Spain. Which was a very petty lie. My father is still disheartened about that."  
"At least you got to see the country! And where do you live, when you're not seeking for fantastic beasts?"  
"In Devon, with my father and our three Kneazles, Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus."  
Hopefully, Elia already knew about that county and could then focus on a more pressing matter.  
"You named your pets after the Peverell brothers?"  
There was something akin to awe in her voice, and Luna beamed.  
"I bet they're as spirited as we can imagine, with such potent names."  
Luna could only nod her assent.  
"Ignotus, in particular, keeps disappearing. Our neighbours got used to finding him in their attic."   
"I really can't say the same thing for Louis, though his name also suits him. That cat only leaves the place to remind everyone in the street that he's the king of the neighbourhood."  
Luna laughed, and Elia relished hearing that sound.  
"I don't see them much anyway," Luna added. "I spend the year at school."  
"Oh, Hogwarts, right?"  
That, too, Elia had heard about.  
"Hogwarts," Luna confirmed. "My father didn't want me to go, as he's made some enemies, writing in his newspaper. Do you know about the Quibbler?"  
Luna's tone had become hopeful.  
"No, I don't," Elia regretted. "But maybe you can show me?"  
"I'll ask my father if he had brought any old issue with him, then. The Quibbler always tells the truth."  
Elia didn't doubt it, as Luna seemed somewhat prone to be truthful herself.  
"I didn't go to school," she stated. "How is it going for you?"  
She witnessed a flicker of something dark in Luna's eyes, and she clenched her jaw. Whoever had hurt her friend, she would make them pay if she could.  
"The castle is fantastic," Luna said, venturing on safer grounds. "It has 142 stairs, most of them moving at random. They're nice to me, though, since I ask them to take me where I need to go."  
"You talk to the bloody stairs," Elia noted, bewildered.  
"It's only polite. The Headmaster does it, too. I heard students wondering how he could move so promptly around the place, but they would have known if they could just pay attention."  
Elia was hanging onto Luna's every word. Though she had heard many tales about the British Isles' most renowned magical school, it was the first time she had a talk with an actual student. And besides, Luna didn't seem like the typical student.  
"How old are you, by the way?" Elia asked, remembering that she still didn't know.  
"I'm fifteen," Luna answered. "I'll be a Fifth Year in a few days."  
"Oh," Elia let out. "I'm seventeen, and soon-to-be officially employed," she added.  
She was relieved Luna wasn't as young as she looked, even though a gap of two years was still a lot at their ages. She wanted to bang her head on the table at that thought. Who said Luna wished to date her anyway?  
From tales about Hogwarts to stories about their respective childhood, Elia and Luna spent the afternoon talking in the courtyard, Elia going to fetch more tea and a couple of blankets as dusk settled and the temperature lowered. When Céleste interrupted them because Xenophilius was looking for his missing daughter, they noticed that it had been hours.  
Elia only let Luna go when she promised that she would still be there the next day. Elia wasn't entirely convinced that it wasn't a perfectly crafted dream, yet she had no choice but to let Luna join her father and face her mother's knowing gaze.  
[...]  
As was expected, the next few days barely saw them apart. They'd meet after lunch, once Elia had drunk enough coffee and rushed through her daily tasks, and they would talk, either in the courtyard, in the living room or even on the Alley, whenever Céleste'd kick them out to get some fresh air.  
Elia was now convinced that it was real, though she didn't know how to cope with her feelings. Not knowing how to interpret them, she had of course asked around, and her grandmother, a childhood friend and the baker's husband had all been unequivocal - she was in love with Luna. The thing that did it was probably the fact that she couldn't bear the idea of being separated from her ever again. She had never cared that much for someone, nor had she wanted someone on her side as desperately.  
On the 30th evening, their last day together, they were lounging in the barely lit living-room, their shoulders pressed together. Elia thought that the time was a good as any and decided to take a leap of faith. She turned her head to look in Luna's eyes.  
"Lune?"  
"Yes?"  
"Are you going to forget me?"  
Though she had wished her question to be casual, she could hear her own insecurity showing off. Luna frowned at her words, and Elia stopped breathing.  
"Why would I?" Luna asked, confused to the highest level.  
Elia's constricted airways eased a little.  
"So we'll stay in touch?"  
Luna grabbed her hand without hesitation; Elia blushed, and though she felt ashamed of her lack of control over her reactions, she didn't pull back.  
"If you answer my letters."  
"Of course," Elia said passionately; control crumbling under the assault of her retained emotions.  
Then Luna beamed, and Elia found that so adorable that she couldn't rein in her own joy. She took a deep breath and prepared to make another confession, as Luna had already reacted way better than she had dared hope.  
"Lune, listen. I've meant to ask... Do you wanna be my girlfriend?"   
Luna stopped blinking for an instant. Then Elia saw a fat tear roll on her pale cheek. The adrenalin came crashing down, and Elia figured she had ruined whatever they had with that dumb question. Luna was so distressed that she wasn't even trying to leave.   
Elia was about to mumble a half-hearted apology when Luna met her gaze again.  
She nodded, her beautiful blue eyes shining with tears. Could that be...? A flicker of hope had Elia asking:  
"For sure?" she whispered.  
Luna nodded again as if a lump in her throat stopped her from speaking out loud.  
Elia breathed out and relaxed by degrees. She wanted to burst into laughter and cry of relief at the same time. Instead, she stroked Luna's hand gently and finally embraced her in her arms.  
They stayed like this for an eternity, sharing their very first moment of real intimacy now that they knew their feelings were reciprocated.  
When they had to say goodbye the next day, Elia was no longer worried Luna would forget her. They were now bound together, and if the time apart would surely be hard, the future would also be full of promises.   
At seventeen years and three months old, Elia understood that she hadn't believed in love at first sight for she didn't think she could meet somebody like Luna.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much!


End file.
